


Coffee and Chocolate

by maryperk



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 17:58:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13980441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maryperk/pseuds/maryperk
Summary: After a bad date, Tara gets comfort from some friends she hasn't seen in a while.





	Coffee and Chocolate

One shot

Tara sat down at the vacant table in the Espresso Pump, the local Sunnydale coffee bar. She threw a box of chocolates down on the table. _What a terrible date,_ she decided. _Well, at least I got some candy out of the deal._

Tara took a sip of her hot chocolate while she watched the people pass by outside. After a few minutes, she noticed Spike and Buffy across the street, holding hands and window shopping. She marveled at how everyone's lives had changed so much in the past year.

A year ago Buffy was dead, sacrificing herself to save the world.

Eight months ago, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara herself had brought Buffy back from the dead in a feat of incredible magic.

Two weeks after that Buffy had revealed she'd been in heaven not in some hell dimension. Buffy had broken away from her friends with the exceptions of Giles and Spike, both of whom had nothing to do with the resurrection. Dawn had stayed with Buffy and Spike.

Six months ago, Tara had discovered Willow looking for a spell to make everything 'better'. What that really meant was Willow was searching for a spell to make Buffy forget about heaven and return to the Scooby fold. 

Spike and Buffy crossed the street to enter the Espresso Pump. Tara hunched over to hide her face. She was still ashamed at her participation in the resurrection spell.

_Good time as any to start eating the chocolate,_ Tara thought. She opened the box. She picked one of the prettiest candies up, but before she could get it into her mouth, a pale hand gripped her wrist. She looked up into Spike's blue eyes.

"Don't eat that, witchlet," Spike drawled. "Someone slipped a magical Mickey into it."

Tara dropped the chocolate. "What?"

Spike dropped Tara's hand, and he slipped into the chair across from her. "As soon as you opened the box, I could smell it. Where did you get these things?"

"I was on a date," Tara whispered.

Spike had a perplexed look on his face. "Red gave you bad chocolate?"

"I'm not dating Willow anymore. This was a girl from the magic group at Sunnydale U."

Buffy slid into the chair next to Spike, and she handed him a cup. "You're not dating Willow anymore?"

"No." Tara shook her head. "We broke up about six months ago."

"Why?" Buffy's puzzlement seemed genuine.

Tara looked away from Buffy. The guilt she still felt for her part in the resurrection rose in a tidal wave of feelings. "She was trying a Tabula Rasa spell."

"What's that?"

Spike leaned in to speak to Buffy. "A forgetting spell."

"Xander condoned this spell too?" Buffy asked in a disgusted voice.

Tara grimaced. "I guess you haven't heard. I thought for sure that Mr. Giles would have mentioned it."

Spike and Buffy both shook their heads.

"Well, Xander got taken to be a demon's bride. All that singing and dancing a few months back? That was from some necklace Xander took from the Magic Box. He wanted everyone to have a happy ending." Tara looked down at her lap.

"Wow, we sure have missed a lot." Buffy huffed. She looked unhappy about the news of her old friend. "We've been out of town for a while."

Spike snorted. "The Slayer needed to get away for her mental health."

"I'm really sorry about my part in the resurrection, Buffy," Tara said in a soft voice. "I let Willow talk me into going along with her."

Buffy reached over to pat Tara's hand. "I forgive you. In light of the other spells that Willow has been willing to do, you don't think she might have coerced you?"

Tara felt horrified. "I don't know. I just know that I can't be around her when she's doing so much magic." 

The Espresso Pump door slammed open. An unnaturally beautiful woman strode into the coffee bar. She had long auburn hair, brilliant green eyes, and a perfect body.

Spike wrinkled his nose. "Stinks of magic," he grunted. "Worse than Red ever did."

The woman caught sight of Tara. She marched over to the table. "Nobody walks out on a date with Taylor Tyler. Nobody!"

Tara glanced at Buffy who nodded in encouragement. She turned to the newcomer. "I accepted the date because you seemed cool. Then, you showed up looking like that." She waved at Taylor's glamour. "That isn't who I wanted to date."

"I saw your last girlfriend. I was just stacking the odds," Taylor leered at Tara. "Your magic is going to taste so yummy."

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "That's kinda gross."

Tara shook her head. "I broke up with her because she was too free with the magic. She was getting addicted. Besides, I liked how you looked before the glamour. I agree, that whole magic tasting thing is really gross sounding."

"This is the bint that gave you this roofied chocolate," Spike drawled.

"Stay out of this, buster." Taylor turned to Spike. Her eyes flashed black.

Spike flashed his eyes in return.

"You're hanging out with a vampire?" Taylor sneered.

Buffy leaned around Spike to stare up into Taylor's face. "She's hanging out with the Slayer too, lady.

Taylor stepped back. "The Slayer? The Slayer is long gone."

"Well, I'm back."

"Whatever." Taylor turned to Tara. "You lost your chance to date me again. See if anyone else wants to date your sorry ass either."

Tara ducked her head. The woman's words cut her deep in her innermost heart. Tara was surprised when Spike and Buffy scooted closer to her on both sides. She looked up just in time to see the vampire and Slayer glaring at Taylor.

"I don't think Tara's going to have a problem getting dates," Buffy replied. She put her arm around Tara's shoulders. "Honestly, Tara's the nicest person I know."

Spike nodded in agreement before he turned his eyes towards Taylor. "If I hear anything nasty swirlin' around good old Sunnyhell about our friend, I'll be lookin' you up for a visit."

"Y-you don't s-scare me," Taylor stammered. Her glamour flickered, and beneath it her true self could be seen. 

Taylor was attractive without the glamour. It made Spike and Buffy wonder about her motivation to make herself look different.

"It's not him you really have to worry about," Buffy informed Taylor. "It's me. I get really grumpy when someone hurts one of my friends. If you don't believe me, just ask Spike." She turned to smile at Spike. "Dropped an organ on you, didn't I?"

"She did," Spike agreed. "Don't brass off the Slayer. You won't like her when she's brassed off."

Tara snorted. "You just quoted The Incredible Hulk," she whispered.

"That was some fine entertainment, pet." Spike joined Buffy in having his arm around Tara's shoulders. He looked at Taylor. "Why are you still here?"

Taylor sneered at the trio. "Tomorrow, every witch in our group is going to shun you like the scum you are." She turned, and she marched out of the Espresso Pump.

A woman at the table next to Spike, Buffy, and Tara turned around to speak. "Don't worry about what she says, Tara. Nobody in our group is going to ostracize you. Can't say the same for Taylor."

"Kali," Tara gasped.

"Introduce me to your friends," Kali replied.

Tara cleared her throat. "This is Kali Ennis. She's the newest president of the UC Sunnydale Wicca group. Kali, these are my friends, Spike and Buffy."

"You have interesting friends, Tara," Kali said. She studied Spike and Buffy. "A vampire and a Slayer. I see an interesting future for you, my dear." She rose to her feet, threw a few bills on the table, and left the coffee bar in search of her errant subordinate.

"Oh boy, Taylor is in deep trouble now." Tara shook her head. "Kali's pretty fierce when it comes to the misuse of magic. I tried to introduce Willow to her, but Willow refused. I just don't know what to do anymore." She let out a sob. The emotional events of the day finally caught up with her.

"We're here for you," Buffy assured Tara. She pulled the other woman's head onto her shoulder, and she let Tara just cry it out.

"You're coming home with us," Spike said when Tara finally stopped sobbing. 

Buffy eyed the box of chocolates. "Better take those with us. I wouldn't want someone to accidently eat them." She scooped them up as she stood. 

The trio left the Expresso Pump together.


End file.
